


We are at War

by Ironwingedhawk



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Daredevil (TV), Iron Fist (TV), Jessica Jones (TV), Luke Cage (TV), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: AU, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Spoilers, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Alternate Universe Framework, Betrayal, Epic Bromance, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Framework-Freeform, Hydra (Marvel), Hydra are dicks, Multi, Nazis, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Rape/Non-con, Protectiveness, Road Trips, Set before AOS 4x16, Speciesism, Torture, Violence, evil fitz, the last of us vibes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-20
Updated: 2017-04-29
Packaged: 2018-10-20 14:43:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10664814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ironwingedhawk/pseuds/Ironwingedhawk
Summary: Take the Defenders characters, marinade them in the AOS framework setting. Now add a hint of the "The Last of Us" setting and you get this."Danny rubbed his neck, “I hope we’ll be able to see this day.”Luke just nodded in silent response, truth was he wasn’t sure if this was going to be the case. He was certain Hydra would either lose their support, be defeated by the resistance or get into a major international conflict one day. But he also felt like a lot of time would have to pass until these wishes would turn into reality. "





	1. A Normal Day in Hell

*Knock*  
*KnockKnock*  
*___*  
*Knock*  
*___*  
*KnockKnock*, Luke opened the door immediately after the last knock echoed through the empty hall.  
“You’re late.”, he said looking down at his best friend.  
“Happy to see you too…”, Danny mumbled as he slid the backpack from his shoulders.  
Luke raised an eyebrow, “I was worried. What did you bring us?”  
“Not much. I’m sorry. I have the feeling that security is getting tighter every day. If I risk too much now… We would all be in deep shit.”  
“Hey, no one here will be mad at you. So what did you get?”  
“ Meds, some water filters, and canned food. Couldn’t smuggle too much in the backpack so I decided to go with the essential stuff, you know?”  
“Trucks broken down?”, Luke asked while they walked down the barley lit hallway.  
Danny shook his head, “As I said security´s tighter these days. They put up new controls on the route. I can sneak past them by foot, but that´s it.”  
“Shit.”  
“Yeah.”  
Danny was about to enter the room at the end of the hallway, when Luke grabbed him by the shoulders, “ Don’t take any unnecessary risks. You getting caught won’t help us.”  
“I know.”  
“Don’t get this wrong. You’re a BIG help. But we can manage without you risking your head.”  
There was a moment of silence before he replied, “I know. I never told anyone else but sometimes I just want to run. With the others. I mean we have the chance and you know others would do anything to be able to take it. But…”  
“But it would be wrong. I know how this is, we all have these scenarios in our heads, we all have these thoughts. But deep down it’s not who we are.”, Luke knew exactly what Danny was talking about, thanks to the younger man´s position in a big company and the resulting wealth they had the opportunity to escape abroad. While it was impossible to smuggle out a large number of Inhumans or Shield agents. Danny had the ability to bring the small fraction of rebels he was working with to the Canadian border. There they would be save…well at least until they could board a plane to Europe and never look back at the hellhole that used to be his home. America was where no Inhuman or Liberal wanted to be these days. On a political level the U.S. was the only country that was influenced by Hydra, there were however small fractures of Hydra advocates and fanatics all over the world. Some of them with influence on the regional governments, but nowhere quite as strong as here. Europe, Wakanda, Australia and India, these were the places everyone wanted to be these days. These were the…well…least Hydra friendly areas in the world. There was an almost cold war like tension caused by these varying views on Inhumans. Other countries were looking concerned at what was happening in America but the risk of a nuclear strike was too high for them to intervene or even consider to sanction the US.  
Luke sighed and opened the door, causing half a dozen heads to look up, “He’s fine, guys.”  
“Told you so.”, Matt replied from where he was laying on his field bed, while the other rebels in the room managed a more or less warm hearted greeting towards Danny.  
“Don’t get your hopes up, there’s not much I have for you.”, the blond shrugged.  
Claire stopped reading her book and looked up at him,” How long will you stay?”  
“Hours tops.”, Danny said as he slumped down on Luke’s bed, “You need anything smuggled out?”  
“I have an article for Urich.” Karen said, raising her hand like a school girl, “You think you can bring it to him?”  
“Worked the last few times and it’s less risky than the internet, so… sure.”  
“Thanks.”, she replied and handed him a bunch of handwritten notes.  
This way of transport was a lot safer for rebels like them. Hydra had some of the best hackers in the world searching the web for clues of hidden resistance cells. Not that it wasn’t risky for Danny to meet up with Urich who was spreading anti Hydra handouts in the city. Luke didn´t like abusing his best friend like this but he was the only one of them who was still able to walk free outside.  
The first time Luke met him was only a few days after he came back from K´un L´un. Danny had been confused by the new world order created by Hydra. He was lucky that his anti Hydra statements and attitude had been hidden by the Rand Enterprises board. While the company itself was loyal to Hydra, they were scared of losing the corporation with the organization basically running this country, if their CEO spoke out against them in public. So, being now educated to not speak out against Hydra and also being backed by his company, Danny was relatively safe. The same couldn’t be said for Luke and the others. They had all ended up on Hydras list of wanted fugitives from the law for helping Inhumans and resisting authority. About two years ago they had to flee from the city, now they were living in an old bunker not far outside. They had thought about joining shield officially instead of being on neutral ground with them, as they were now. But that wasn’t so easy. Due to the control Hydra had in the real and virtual world shield was fractured, there were multiple units who were barely able to communicate with each other. Multiple cells of former agents still loyal to the organization but no one to unite and lead them.  
Before Danny ,he and his rebels had to sneak in stuff from the city or the outskirts. This new way to survive with his help was much easier for them, but he couldn´t help worrying about Danny. If he got caught they wouldn´t just execute them, he was too well known to waste on something like this, they would use him as an example for everyone helping Inhumans or rebels. Imagining what Hydra would do to him made him sick. Within a few months after their first meeting the blond had become one of the most important if not the most important person in his life, there was something with the two of them that was just…right. Of course it could also be the fact, that they didn’t have to live together in a damn bunker.  
“Anything else that is new out there?”, Matt asked, “I mean stuff we don’t get out of the Hydra propaganda…”  
“Security’s a lot higher these days. Don’t know why exactly… Government says the number of Inhumans has risen significantly, I don’t buy it though.”  
Luke tilted his head, “ So Shield?”  
“I mean it could be anything…Foreign spies, Inhumans, Shield, hell maybe there is a power struggle within Hydra itself.”, Karen speculated.  
Luke smiled, “Hydra tearing itself apart, wouldn´t that be interesting?”  
Matt nodded, “At this rate it’s probably the best hope we have to get rid of them anytime soon.”  
“Hate to say this but there is no reason to make me believe that.”, Danny interrupted unusually pessimistic.  
“I mean they wouldn’t want anyone to notice. Anyway higher security means Hydra is scared of something. What scares Hydra is good for us.”, Claire commented while going through Danny´s backpack.  
“…Or really bad.”, Matt mumbled.  
“Maybe they´ve just gotten drunk on power and want to start a dick measuring contest.”, Luke offered.  
Karen laughed dryly, “You mean more power drunk, than they already are. I’m not sure that´s possible.”  
There was some silence before Danny asked, “Anyway, where are Misty and Foggy?”  
“Gym.”, Matt chuckled. The “Gym” was a small room in the back they had stuffed with everything that could be used as training supplies. It was usual that some of them would be there a lot, in order to keep up some sort of physical fitness. It wasn´t usual for Foggy though and Luke was surprised Danny hadn’t commented on that, instead he just raised an eyebrow and shrugged, “And you guys? Anything new here?”  
“We live underground and would be arrested the moment anyone sees our face, what do you think?”, Luke hadn’t intended for his response to sound as bitter as it did. He could see a hint of shame in his best friends eyes. He knew that Danny felt bad for being able to move outside and enjoy the privilege of his wealth , while the rest of them had to live in a bunker for who knows how long. It wasn’t fair to blame him for his luck and it also wasn’t fair his best friend was blaming himself for it, so he quickly added, “You know that we are happy you can live a normal life...”  
” Well...,Luke has to go outside to get some water from the well, maybe you can join him?”, Karen attempted to change the topic.  
Danny nodded, “I could get it myself, and you stay inside. Safe. But if Luke insists on it, sure.”  
“Man, I have to catch some fresh air once in a while as well. And besides the collectors are safe.”, Luke wasn’t even lying. The group had set up the rain collectors outside of the controlled zones long before Danny. Now the rebels were still using them, so that they were independent of their friend and that he could smuggle other stuff instead of water.  
The door to the bunker was in the basement of a small house in the outskirts of New York. Hydra had forced inhabitants of suburbs of various cities to leave their houses and move within the controlled boarders. This wasn’t the case for all American Metropolises, the way they choose these areas seemed random though. The official statement on that was that Hydra could offer better protection for their citizens, of course the truth was that this offered them more opportunities to intervene and control the people. Among rebels the abandoned areas were just referred to as freeland, although that wasn’t literally true. Random Hydra patrols were searching the areas from time to time. But there were too many buildings to search thoroughly, so in reality they were just driving the main roads, that were also open to citizens to travel from city to city, and look out for nonexistent pedestrians who were stupid enough to walk the freelands. Of course this wasn’t efficient at all. Hydra may be powerful and their heads may be geniuses, but their soldiers were people willing to do everything they were ordered without asking why. Short: They were not the brightest.  
“Sooo, what is wrong?”, Luke asked after both of them had pulled up their black hoddies and walked the first few steps out of the abandoned house towards the woods bordering the backyard.  
“I broke up with Joy.”  
“Shit. Why?“. Danny and Joy Meachum had gotten together shortly after his return from Tibet. They had basically been each other’s childhood crushes, however if Luke was honest whenever Danny told him about the relationship with her, he couldn’t help but feel like it was a one-sided one. Danny had adored her with all of his childish enthusiasm while she only seemed to take from him. Of course this was only what Luke took from his best friends stories. He hadn’t expected their relationship to last and he knew that he should have told him. But who was he to judge and possibly end a relationship he only knew from a distance with a woman he had only ever seen on the news. Anyway he hadn’t expected Danny to dump her.  
His best friend took a deep breath and looked down on the ground,” She was asked by the Doctor, you know this Hydra guy in DC, to deliver med equip for them.”  
“And she said yes?”  
“It brings a LOT of money. But...it... it´s just not worth it. We could have said no, without Hydra getting pissed at us. We could have said we couldn’t deliver. There were hundreds of ways… But she wanted to do this. I knew she wasn’t really against Hydra but she wasn´t a fan of them either. And I know that we already are supporting Hydra as a company, but not like this. The thing is we are offering office space and handle logistics between the looked cities. We aren’t providing them with stuff that’s directly used to torture people. Joy and I had a discussion about this and the way she defended their procedures…I can’t be with someone who thinks that way. It’s not a dog or cat-type sort of question, it’s… you know…It´s the sort of difference that would lead us to end the relationship one way or another, if not today, then maybe in a week, a year or two…you know? ”  
“That’s hard man.”, for a moment the two just walked side by side in silence, “Did you give her the reason?”  
Danny shook his head, “I’m not stupid. Not that stupid at least. I know that I can’t tell her we broke up because of Hydra.”  
“What did you say?”  
“I told her that I was feeling like we were drifting apart and that I wasn’t feeling like we would lead somewhere.“  
Luke nodded, “Not lying but not really telling the truth either. Smart.”  
“See? Speaking of…How is sharing the living space with two exes?”, Danny smiled cheekily.  
Luke elbowed him in the ribs, “I hate you...I mean,…As well as you would expect. But seriously we’re all adults in a fucked up situation. It’s awkward but we’re handling it well enough.“  
“Is it weird that there are times I want to switch places with you?”, Danny asked awkwardly looking on the ground, “ I mean not the living with two exes stuff. That’s weird, man…I… I mean this whole resistance thing. It feels like you guys are actually doing something.”  
“We’re sitting in a bunker like cowards.“  
“Yeah, but you are not living among people supporting Hydra and have to pretend to be okay with what Hydra stands for and what they do. Ever since I’m hiding how I feel about them, I…feel dirty.”  
Luke sighed, “ We’ve been over this. The only real way for us to change something would be Shield. But there is no safe way to contact them.”  
They had reached a small passage were they could be seen from a street, so they had to crawl and to stay hidden behind bushes.  
“When’s the next business trip?“, Luke asked.  
“In two weeks. Rome for five days.“  
“You gonna talk to local Shield?”  
“I hope so.”.  
Different from America Shield was still a legit organization abroad. In the past Danny had managed to contact their heads in person on business trips. They couldn´t help him with finding groups of agents in America, the risk of Hydra hacking themselves inside was too high, even foreign Shield couldn’t counter the hackers Hydra had on their bills. But they could help with something else: from time to time, Danny could arrange to smuggle some Inhumans outside via Rand cargo ships, planes were too risky for that. And even transport as a blind passenger on a ships was difficult to manage without the crew noticing. The container Danny used was modified with everything the Inhumans inside needed on the long journey. This was only possible a very limited amount of times and only for a very small number of people. A drop in the ocean. Saving a small number of lives however, was better than nothing.

The rest of the way to the rain water collector took them thirty minutes of luckily mostly positive chatter but they were enough for Luke to realize how much he had missed Danny. He was emitting such a positive energy that you couldn´t help but be delighted in his presence.  
When they arrived, they filled the collected water in bottles and packed these into their backpacks. While their way to the collectors had been filled with talk and banter. The way back however was mostly spend in silence. A comfortable one, not awkward or tense. They were familiar enough with each other to know that they wouldn’t bore the other one if they would remain quiet.  
They were walking past an abandoned playground and were almost home when Danny whispered, “You think it’ll ever be normal again…?“  
“Maybe. I certainly hope so. But that could take a whole while. Shield is weak and Hydra is getting stronger every day, but there has to be a point where this will stop.“  
“You believe that?”  
“With all of my heart. I mean everything ends eventually,… the good and the bad. No regime lasts forever.”  
Danny rubbed his neck, “I hope we’ll be able to see this day.”  
Luke just nodded in silent response, truth was he wasn’t sure if this was going to be the case. He was certain Hydra would either lose their support, be defeated by the resistance or get into a major international conflict one day. But he also felt like a lot of time would have to pass until these wishes would turn into reality.  
The two friends were so deep into their thoughts, that they almost didn‘t see the trucks marked with a red octopus standing in front of the gang’s hideout. Out of reflex both of them crouched down in the dirt.  
“What the hell?”, Danny whispered from where he was hiding behind a mossy tree stump.  
“Shit!”, This couldn‘t be happening. They couldn´t have found them. This life was crap and he hated how they were forced to live, but at least they were free. In disbelieve Luke looked down at the floor and started whispering to himself, “ No, no, no… Just because they checked the house doesn’t mean they found them, right? I mean the door’s hidden and there is the code. And they are also good fighters. I mean Matt and Misty and Claire can also kick some ass and-“  
“Luke.”, suddenly Danny’s voice was calm and sober, while Luke was losing his cool the adrenaline seemed to do the opposite for Danny, he sounded older, more serious and more mature than he had ever heard him,” Luke, they are searching the perimeter. We have to leave. Now!”  
“The others…”  
“They are either safe and sound in the bunker and we’ll have a hell of a story to tell once we’re back or they are in these trucks but then joining them there would be no help.”  
Luke shook his head, “We can fight. I have unbreakable skin and you are the Iron Fist. We can take them.”  
But Danny was behaving like someone had hit a switch within him, “You haven’t seen what I saw in the city and you don’t know what I know, thanks to the company. They have ammunition and weapons designed to take out every imaginable powered being. I know it’s hard but we need to go.”  
Turning the back on the house and his friends might have been the hardest decision in his life, but after all there was no other choice for Luke but to follow his best friend through the woods.  
It took them a little while of jogging until they slowed down, “We shouldn’t have done this.”, Luke turned in the vague direction they came from.  
“Maybe. I’m sure it was the right call though.“  
“Where are we going anyway?“  
Danny shrugged, “Away? I mean away from the bunker. I would go to the city and come back here to check the bunker for the others at night. I don’t want to go there today and be taken in by Hydra.“  
“But?”  
“Huh? What but?  
Luke sighed, “To be honest, what you say makes total sense. I agree that staying in the woods would be stupid. Maybe Hydra wants to continue the search there. But before you said that you said: “You WOULD do that.””  
“Well, I won’t do that because you can’t get through the controls and I’m not leaving you alone.”  
He said that so nonchalantly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world that it caused Luke to feel warm inside despite his other friends being possibly in danger.  
He and Danny were together, they were a team and they were unstoppable. If his other friends were in danger, they would find a way to save them. It seemed like a sign from the universe that at exactly this moment, Danny turned around with a hint of a smile on his face, “You know what? Forget about not getting you in, because we totally will.  
“You’re right, Hydra won’t let me in, brother.”  
“Because they don’t have to.”  
“You know how high the walls are and they go all around the area.”  
Danny tilted his head, “What did you say, when you wanted to fight the Hydra guys at the bunker?”  
The answer immediately came to Luke, how could he be so stupid, “You’re the Iron Fist.”  
His friend grinned smugly.  
Luke shook his head, “You know an idiot could come up with this idea.”  
“If that is so,… why didn’t you?”  
In retrospective Luke felt bad for how fast they could go back to Banter after what happened. But Danny’s optimistic mood was contagious and in a certain way it made the day rush by in a single blurry haze.  
Danny and he walked towards a spot of the wall, which (according to Danny) was famous for not really being guarded from the other side. The blond used his powers to punch a hole in the wall and they were in. The spot was not only unguarded but also fairly far away from buildings and therefore people. As they reached a busy street, Luke pulled up his hoodie and they were heading for a hotel, so that they wouldn’t have to walk through the city for too long.  
Hope and optimism were returning to Luke and it was an amazing feeling. In the dark they would head to the bunker and look for their friends. Suddenly he was confident, they would be there. And even if the worst had happened and they had been taken Danny would use his wealth or his company and its connections to Hydra in order to get them out.  
All of these plans were destroyed when they walked past a small electronic store. The TV in the display window showed some of Hydra’s most wanted: Carl Lucas and Daniel Thomas Rand.


	2. The Girl with the Bottle

“You think this will work?”, Danny asked as Luke crossed the main road with a few large, fast steps.  
Once they had realized, that they couldn’t go to Rand enterprises or Danny’s apartment, because that would be where Hydra would be looking for them first, they ran to the only place inside the city that would offer them protection: Luke’s bar. Luke had bought it back then, shortly before everything went to shit. He hadn’t sold it when he went into hiding, so it should still be there… empty and abandoned.  
On their way, they tried to avoid large crowds of people, as well as points where Hydra liked to perform regular passport controls or checkups within the city borders.  
Even here, outside of the city centre Hydra took every possible chance to demonstrate their power.  
Propaganda banners and poster were all over the streets, telling people to: “Watch out and report any suspicious inhuman and human presence!”, “Free the world from all Inhuman scum” or to “ Obey to the superior force of Hydra!”  
This was pretty tame compared to what Luke had seen at his time, before he went on the run. Back then, Hydra had started to drag prisoners out on the streets and executed them in front of the public eye. Doing this and at the same time also denying their Nazi-background was a horrible, grotesque joke. But fear was Hydra’s biggest ally, when it came to keeping their control over people.  
While a lot of this world was the same as he remembered it from before the Cambridge incident, there was also a lot that wasn’t. Besides the propaganda and the high Hydra-military presence of course…People were actually scared, he could see this in the way they moved on the streets: They walked with their eyes directed down towards the ground, there were no laughing groups of children and everyone seemed to be in a hurry to get off the streets and inside of their own four walls. While most people seemed to suffer under the regime, they were too scared to resist. Luke didn’t blame any of them, they had people they cared about, people they could lose. He only had decided to fight Hydra the moment he lost everything. It had been more of a suicide plan to be honest. Even back then, when he was already living in the bunker, he still dreamed of the day he would run into a bunch of Hydra a-holes and take out as many of them as he could. Go out in a blaze of glory while fighting evil. It all changed when he met Danny, he had offered him some sense of hope.  
After a while of walking Luke finally felt comfortable enough to ask the question, that had been lingering in the back of his mind for a while now, “How do they know your name? Having them know my name makes sense. But yours? How? ”  
“I guess they caught the others and…Somehow…Got it out...”  
“Torture…But that isn’t possible. We arrived at the bunker maybe two hours ago, and there were still trucks in front of it. And even if they had already brought them away with different vehicles… They would have been with them for…, how long? 1 hour? Then they would need to bring them away, decide to torture them, …actually start with that…, break them enough to get the answer and give the names to the news. It doesn’t add up.”  
Danny nodded, “Maybe they have some sort of truth serum. I mean if stuff like this exists, Hydra would certainly have their hands on it… Or they just held a gun to the head of one of them.”  
“I hope not…Something about this still feels… odd.”  
“What do you mean?”  
Luke looked down on the ground, “What if, it wasn’t a coincidence, that they found the bunker. What if someone told them where to find us and who exactly they would find in there.”  
“You think we’ve been sold out...You think there’s a traitor? I would never betray y-“  
“Jeez, that’s not what I mean. It’s just…maybe someone else has... What about Joy?”  
Danny shook his head, “No. She doesn’t…I don’t think she knows about you guys and even if…she wouldn’t sell me out. She’s morally shady but not straight up evil.”  
“And if it was someone at the bunker…which I doubt, they could have told Hydra where we went. I mean back then, when we went away to get water. They would have searched for us out there.”  
“I guess.”  
Luke shook his head and looked at his friend, “I just think… we should remain cautious. I don’t believe it would be smart to act, before we know what all of this is about.”  
“Says the man, who-”  
“Yeah, I know…I was acting over my head, which is usually your specialty…”  
They arrived at dawn and everything was as Luke remembered, only that the inside of the bar, which had always been a giant mess, was now covered in dust. That, however did confirm that apparently no one had been here since he left.  
“You have any idea what to do now?”, Danny asked.  
“Get the others back and stay alive.”  
“Could have thought of this myself…”  
Luke shrugged, “That’s all I have.”  
“It’s just…Now I won’t be able to actually walk into Rand and have a look at restricted Hydra files anymore.”  
They were about to settle down for the night so that they could come up with an idea, when an ugly sound caught their attention. The front door opened with a loud creak, Luke and Danny whirled around as two woman wearing black beanies and sunglasses entered the room. In unison, the girls raised their hands above their heads, “Don’t worry we are not Hydra.”  
Danny didn’t retreat from his fighting stance and Luke didn’t even consider letting go of the wooden plank he had grabbed from behind the counter and raised like a sword, “Why are we supposed to believe you?”  
“Jeri Hogarth sends us.”  
Luke looked towards Danny, who took a step back but didn’t relax completely. Hogarth had helped Danny organizing the Inhuman transports, there was no reason for her to send Hydra after them. Yet his friend didn’t let his guard down.  
“There’s something else we can show you.”, the woman who had been silent until then suggested, “But I need to get it from my bag”  
Luke glanced towards his friend, who nodded hesitantly, “Okay.”  
With slow movements, the woman let down her backpack, while the other girl took of her beanie and sunglasses, revealing messy blonde hair. Meanwhile the other girl had pulled out a piece of paper and took a few careful steps towards the men to hand Luke the paper. Then she took a few steps back and took of her beanie and sunglasses as well. Her hair was as black as the night and there was something fierce glimmering in her eyes.  
Luke unfolded the paper and held it out in front of him, so that Danny could have a look as well.  
It was a poster structured similar to what they had seen on TV earlier:  
Wanted:  
Jessica Jones, Patricia Walker  
There were pictures underneath, showing the black haired girl and the now blonde but with her hair dyed red.  
“You are also on the run.”, Danny stated, glancing over at Luke and relaxing some more.  
“No shit, Sherlock.”, the girl, the poster identified as Jessica spitted out.  
Luke nodded, and let the wooden plank fall to the floor, of course this poster could be a fake but if they actually were Hydra, there would be tons of goons standing outside and they were already screwed, no matter what…,“ Why are you here?”  
Jessica shrugged “We already told you: Hogarth.”  
“Why did she send you?”  
“I know her from…before.”, she vaguely gestured towards the outside of the bar that was somewhere behind the barricaded windows, ”She wanted us to follow you in order to deliver a message and assist you. “  
Danny nodded, “ What kind of message?”  
Trish handed him another snippet of paper. A card of New York city,” Jeri said that she can’t meet you in person but there’s a position marked. Tomorrow 4am. that’s where you’ll meet an informant. That’s all we know.”  
After he had studied the map Luke took Danny by his arm and pulled him away from the women, not letting them out of sight but not keeping them in hearing range either.  
“What do you think?”  
Danny bit the inside of his cheek,” I trust Jeri. If she wasn’t loyal, she would have sold us out a long time ago.”  
“Maybe she already did…”  
“No! Not her… I’m pretty sure about that.”  
“How’s that? She can help you with the Inhumans and still switch sides eventually.”  
“But if that was true…Why would she send two strangers instead of inviting me over and set up a trap this way?”  
Luke waited a few moments and watched the girls, “Okay. But I don’t trust them… or Jeri. I trust you.”  
Danny nodded and sat down on the floor, maybe because he was tired or maybe because, he wanted to show the women that they were no threats to them and that they didn’t consider them to be dangerous either. “Why are they hunting you?”, Luke asked. Different from his friend, he was still distrusting of the women in front of him.  
That being said, he wasn’t sure if asking this question had been a smart move. While they tried to hide it, he could easily notice the way Jessica shifted uncomfortable and how Patricia reached over to offer her psychological support.  
“We…we met the wrong people.”, Jessica answered and turned away from the men “This job is supposed to get us away from here. Away from all of this.”  
Danny shook his head, “We can’t pay you. Not anymore.  
“We don’t want any money. As I said, we want to get away from here.”  
“I’m not sure if I can still do that either.”  
Trish sighed, “Then we’ve been screwed over.”  
“Good, that way we don’t have to put up with you guys anymore.”, Jessica replied with an evil grin, “Come on Trish, let’s go.”  
“Wait!”, Danny jumped to his feet.  
Trish grinned and Jessica raised an eyebrow, “We’re listening.”  
Danny exchanged a quick glance with Luke, but for once he wasn’t sure what his friend wanted to say with that.  
The smaller man sighed, “Okay listen. I can’t promise you that we can get you out of here. Not completely. But there might be ways, I can still make this work. I know some stuff, some people who might still help. I can promise you that I…that we,” he looked over at Luke, who just nodded before he continued,” That we will try our best. But you have to help us. Please.”  
Jessica and Trish exchanged a look, that made Luke believe that they seemed to have mastered the art of nonverbal communication as well as Danny and he, “Fine, but I damn well hope for you that your best is enough.”

The rest of the day went by uneventful. They would meet the informant at 4am and until then they were better off staying here. Soon Luke noticed how tired Danny looked, punching in the wall had seriously messed up his chi and he was probably exhausted.  
Adding him collapsing from exhaustion to their long list of existing problems, was the last thing they needed right now, “Dude, go to sleep.”  
“Are you okay with that?... I guess one of us should stay awake.”, he glanced over towards Jessica and Trish, “Just in case.”  
“I’ll be the lookout, it’s okay.”  
“You sure you don’t want to sleep? Because I’m fi-“  
“Danny!”, he interrupted, “Go.to.sleep!”  
Raising his hands in surrender, his friend backed off and settled down on the floor only a few feet away from where Luke was leaning against the wall. A few minutes later the girls whispered some stuff as well and it didn’t take long until Trish laid down close to her friend as she watched over her. They both seemed to be sound sleepers, judging by how none of them woke up when Jessica walked over towards Luke and sat down a few feet away from him. He took it as a sign of trust. Watching guard was not the most exciting thing in the world but it was necessary in order to keep them safe.  
To distract himself from his own tiredness, Luke watched the two blonde forms sleeping on the floor. Both of them seemed so vulnerable and looked so peaceful.  
“I just hope I can protect her.”, it seemed as if Jessica had been thinking the same, but to strengthen her point she nodded into their direction, “She stood up for me. A while ago, Hydra was closing in on me. She was with me and fought by my side. You know that she had a big name, money… she had a life, before all of this. I’ll never be able to repay what she did, but I can make sure that she remains safe. “  
Luke smiled sadly, “I know, what you’re talking about. Pretty much exactly.”  
“It’s funny how those who actually have a good life can’t be happy with it. Trish had wealth, fame but she wanted to save the world.”  
“This one,” he gestured towards Danny, ”isn’t any different. Though I don’t think, I can actually blame him. Could you live a happy and content life, while all around you people are being brainwashed, tortured and killed?”  
She hesitated a moment and watched the whiskey she snitched from her backpack in the bottle, “Maybe… It’s not like we can change anything about it. One man doesn’t make a difference. Maybe that used to be true in the past, but it’s a lie... at least these days.”  
“ Maybe we can’t change the world, but I don’t think we have to accept it.”  
“That. That thinking right there…That’s the attitude that leads you to a life on the run… Or gets you killed”  
“Yeah…”  
For a moment they just sat there, Luke was scrolling through a Hydra propaganda paper that he found earlier on the street while Jessica was sipping her whiskey.  
“You love him.”, she broke the silence and looked over at Luke her head tilted, which was the only thing that made the fact she stated sound like a question.  
“I…I…guess? How did you know?”  
“I used to be a P.I. I’m not good with people but I know how to read them.”, she looked over towards Danny and Trish,” Are you two…?”  
“What? No, he’s…I never had a brother, but I think this is what it would feel like. It doesn’t help that Danny is basically still a child, so you can’t help but feel protective about him.”  
She snorted, “I don’t think so. I don’t care about people.”  
“Except for Trish.”  
“She is to me, what Danny is to you… I guess. Only that she is actually my adoptive sister... She’s all that matters though, I’m a piece of shit, she… She is an angel…”, she took a sip from her bottle, ”Loving someone… it’s hard…Do you think it’s worth it? Worth the pain and the hurt?”  
He laughed silently, so that he wouldn’t wake up their friends, “I can tell you once I found it out for myself.”  
She grinned and somehow it made him smile as well.  
“Can you promise me something?”,he lowered his voice, so that the others couldn’t hear them just in case they weren’t actually asleep.  
Jessica caught the hint and lowered her voice as well, “Depends.”  
“If…if I don’t make it, can you and Trish take care of Danny and continue to search for the others. And if you don’t find them or if they are… You know. Can you make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid. I’ll give you the same promise regarding Trish in return.”  
She remained quiet and for a moment Luke expected her to say no, but then she looked at Trish and nodded, “Deal.”  
Of course they didn’t tell their friends about the deal after they woke up. Luke knew that Danny would lose his shit and he figured the same would be happening to Trish. Everything they said that night was meant to remain between the two of them. In a way that secret connected him and the seemingly alcoholic woman. But instead of feeling guilty for having a secret from his friend, Luke was relieved. In a way he had taken precautions, so that his friend would remain save. Even if the worst happened. He had done his best to protect him. He wouldn’t let him down.  


It was 2:30am. When Danny and Luke left the building. The streets were emptier then earlier, but still far from being abandoned. It was nice to know, that some things never changed. No matter what , you could always count on New Yorkers being out all night. It was also a good thing, that it was dark now. They didn’t need to avoid the main streets but instead just the light cones shining down from the lanterns.  
They were almost at the point marked on the map, when they had to leave the main road. Their way would still lead them through more small lanes until they finally made the agreed meeting point, but Luke was confident that they were close. As they walked through yet another alley, a few minutes away from their destination the men noticed a shadow sitting in the dark, slightly lit by the shimmer of a distant lantern. As they got closer, Luke realized that it seemed to be a little girl, wearing a way to large jacket and a hood over her head. She seemed to be sobbing about something and before Luke could say anything, Danny had already jogged towards her.  
“Hey, are you alright?”, he kneeled down next to her.  
She looked at him and a weird red flicker shined up towards them. And before any of them could react to that, a knife had buried itself deep inside of Danny’s stomach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here's the second chapter.  
> I don't really have much to say, besides that I'm sorry for it being so short but it's a bit of a filler...  
> Hope you enjoy it anyway. Feel free to leave comments and kudos.  
> Thanks for reading. :)

**Author's Note:**

> Warning! Long note ahead. 
> 
> So, this happened. After the amazing yet angsty framwork stuff on AOS started I've seen a lot of people toy around with the idea how the rest of the MCU would look like in this world. I changed it a bit (the Hydra controlled zones *cough*similar to The Last of Us and the military *cough*, etc.) but I'm trying to stay as close to AOS canon as I can.  
> The show has hinted that the NPCs within the Framework have human feelings etc. (There's also this parallel Universe theory from /r/Shield which is pretty interesting) so that's what I'll stick with.  
> Oh and as I mentioned in the text, this is set in the Framework before AOS 4x16...this might or might not have a reason we'll see...  
> What is important to the Netflix side and therefore the story is that Thor was killed in New Mexico (due to the absence of Coulson and/or Hydra replacing Shield), which means that Loki didn't invade earth and therefore Daredevil S1 didn't happen. 
> 
> I guess, that's it?  
> I'm really nervous about this, lol.  
> If you have any questions I'm gonna answer them in the comments.  
> Anyway, Thank you for reading this mess :D


End file.
